07-02-2009, 08:37 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-02-2009, 08:40 AM by Peter Lemkin.)
David Guyatt Wrote:"Frank Gerhardt" were Christian names - sorry "forenames" FG is Jewish - and not the family name.
Yes he worked for RJ Reynolds but transferred over to the law firm Jacob, Medinger & Finegan on behalf of the tobacco lobby (so far as I can see) to act as the chief scientist in 1983. Based on press reports and testimony, depositions etc I've read he was a significant player on behalf of the tobacco industry in fighting what became the historic "Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement".
The humungous MSA award remains a disgraceful affair simply because the award has been whittled down and delayed and delayed and delayed by appeals etc. Imo, it is a case study of how to defeat the law and overcome justice through the use of power, wealth and influence.
In her ruling (see: http://no-smoking.org/aug06/08-23-06-4.html) Federal Judge Gladys Kessler slammed the law firms for conspiring to hide the evidence of the adverse health effects of smoking that had been covered up and hidden for 50 years. He wrath was directed, in addition to tobacco executives, at three law firms who she regarded as being complicit in the cover up:
Quote:"At every stage, lawyers played an absolutely central role in the creation and perpetuation of the Enterprise and the implementation of its fraudulent schemes," the D.C. federal judge wrote. She pointed to how both in-house counsel and outside law firms "devised" and "coordinated" strategy, directed scientists' research in favor of the industry, destroyed documents and "took shelter behind baseless assertions of attorney client privilege."
And
Quote:Numerous lawyers and firms aided the tobacco industry over the years, but Kessler's opinion highlighted three firms in particular: Covington & Burling; Jacob, Medinger & Finnegan; and Shook, Hardy & Bacon.
(my bolding)
In regard to Frank Gerhardt I'll try and find an appropriate link and post it over the next few days.
Edit = to provide an idea of the immensity of tobacco mortality, in 1985 in the US alone, 780,000 deaths were attributed to tobacco according to the US Surgeon-General. And by 1985 the risk of death from toabacco had decreased considerably from 1950, and represented 34% of males aged 35 years dying at ages 35-69 as a percentage of the population. In 1950 this percentage was 43%, a percentage that remained stable until 1970.
These figures are for the US alone. We're talking millions upon millions of deaths directly resulting from the tobacco industry.
Why did he use his first names 'as' his full name, publicly? The big tobacco firms knew very well not only the health risks, but that cigarettes were highly addictive and hid all that information for decades; while promoting them even as 'healthy' [sooths your throat and calms your nerves] and certainly as the 'thing to do to be loved and accepted' in society.